Martin and Mark come to the Island of Sodor
by Kimberleg
Summary: This is an experiment. Hopefully the aim of this story will be achieved. All reviews would be gratefully appreciated  all offensive messages will be reported .


It was holiday time on the Island of Sodor. At this time of year, lots of visitors come to visit the Island and there is much work to be done – picking up passengers, taking them to their favourite destinations and making sure they are always at the station on time to take their passengers home again. Some of them come from far away places and have planes and boats to catch to get home, so it is extra important that the engines are not late, otherwise the passengers would complain that this was a bad railway, and that would never do.

One day, Percy was struggling in the heat and was starting to run late. He was hot and very tired as he pulled into the platform where Thomas was waiting.

"Hurry up, Percy" grumbled Thomas impatiently.

"The Fat Controller and the holiday makers rely on us to be on time. We can't be really useful if you're being lazy and late all the time".

"The workload is too much!" Percy complained, out of breath.

"The sun's too bright and I feel like I'm going to overheat".

"Bah!" replied Thomas. "You're just making excuses" and he puffed away.

"I hope the Fat Controller sends some more engines to help soon" wished Percy.

He soon did. That evening, as Thomas returned from a full day's work, he found the Fat Controller standing with two new engines by the sheds.

"Thomas, you've done a good day's work but there is simply too much for you engines, so I've brought these two engines to help. Their names are Martin and Mark and they go everywhere together – please show them round and make them feel welcome".

"Certainly, Sir" replied Thomas and the Fat Controller left quickly in his little blue car.

Martin and Mark were very pleased to see Thomas – they both gave him big smiles and they were very friendly. Martin and Mark had been very good friends for a long time and looked quite similar. Martin was a deep purple colour and Mark was a lighter pink. Thomas had never seen male engines painted in those colours before, but he was too tired to mention it.

"I'm sure you've come a long way – you must want your rest" said Thomas.

"There is a spare shed here and another over there" he said, indicating beyond the turntable.

"Oh that's alright" said Martin, "we're quite happy here".

"We always stick together" whispered Mark.

"Suit yourselves" said Thomas yawning, and quickly fell asleep.

The next day the new engines immediately got to work and Thomas showed them round the island. They pulled coaches, shunted trucks, took people to the seaside and they worked hard all day, getting everyone to where they wanted to be and on time. The Fat Controller was very pleased and Thomas was very impressed.

As they worked, Martin and Mark saw many of the other engines and were keen to introduce themselves to them. They always whistled to the other engines and said 'Hello' cheerfully with their big smiles, but the other engines never whistled back. They didn't smile or say hello cheerfully, but gave them funny looks and stayed away from them when they could. Thomas noticed this and wondered why they treated them differently.

'They're only trying to be friendly' thought Thomas to himself.

That night, the other engines were talking about the newcomers in the shed. Thomas thought they'd be praising them for their hard work, but instead they were making fun of them.

"They have bent smoke boxes" said Gordon.

"Wonky wheels" joked Henry.

"As strong as a feather!" laughed James.

"Stop it!" said Thomas.

"They've worked just as hard as we have today, and I thought they were very friendly".

"Bah!" huffed Gordon. "Being friendly doesn't make one really useful, and besides how can you work hard and be really useful when you painted pink and purple? They're not respectable colours – proper engines are painted blue".

"And green" added Henry.

"And red!" added James.

Martin and Mark were in the sheds next door and heard everything the other engines said about them. They were most upset and Mark started to cry.

Thomas leant over to Edward: "I don't understand" he said.

"Why does everyone treat them differently?"

Edward smiled knowingly: "Because they're _very special_ friends" he replied.

Thomas was confused: "I have very special friends like you and Percy – I don't think you have bent smoke boxes".

"No" said Edward.

"Do you remember how you felt about your special friend, Lady?"

"Oh yes…" said Thomas, remembering.

"She was beautiful".

"Well, that's how Martin and Mark feel about each other" explained Edward.

"People treat them differently because they don't understand and think it's wrong".

"It isn't natural" said Henry.

"It isn't normal" said Gordon.

"It's disgusting" said James.

"I don't think it's disgusting or wrong" said Thomas.

"I think they're nice".

He trundled over to Martin and Mark's shed:

"Don't worry about them" he said kindly, "they just don't understand. The Fat Controller was very impressed with your work today and I think being different makes us all special".

"But we're not different" said Mark sadly.

"We're all the same" finished Martin.

Thomas felt sorry for Martin and Mark and spent the rest of the night thinking about how he could make them feel better tomorrow.

The next day, the weather was hotter than ever, but even the cheerful sunshine didn't make Martin and Mark feel any happier. This made Thomas very sad.

All of the engines were ready to go to work, except James, who was feeling ill and very weak. There was a problem with his engine and he simply wouldn't start.

"It's the heat from the sun!" cried Percy. "It can make an engine overheat!"

"Rubbish!" said Gordon. "That only happens with diesel engines. James is just being lazy".

"Am not!" wheezed James pathetically.

The Fat Controller arrived and surveyed James closely.

"James" he said, "you are too ill to pull your coaches today. You will stay in the works until you are well again".

"Yes sir" said James sadly, "but who will pull my coaches today? We mustn't make the passengers late and there's no other engine to pull them".

"I'll pull them, Sir!" said Mark cheerfully.

"You?" scoffed Gordon. "You can't pull a whole line of coaches – you're not strong enough".

"Silence!" boomed the Fat Controller.

"As James said, there are no other engines available. Can you do it, Mark?"

"I'll try my best, Sir!" replied Mark, beaming.

Thomas whistled happily: "You can do it, Mark! Be a really useful engine!"

"Good luck" whispered Martin.

Mark beamed more than ever and puffed away to find his coaches.

Later that day, Henry was at the platform, waiting for his passengers to climb into the coaches.

"Come along! Come along!" hurried Henry impatiently and blew steam at them loudly.

"How rude! Good engines don't wheesh their passengers" said the passengers crossly.

Eventually all the coaches were full, the guard blew his whistle and Henry was ready to go. He puffed away grandly – he was keen to make good time. He sailed past fields and positively flew underneath the blue skies and large white fluffy clouds.

He was very pleased with himself: "I'm doing so well! I'm doing so well!" he said.

He presently reached Gordon's hill and pumped his pistons harder than ever to make his way to the top. But half way up the hill, Henry started to struggle and began to slow down. He puffed and pulled as hard as he could, but the coaches were too heavy. Suddenly there was a loud and painful crack – something broke. The passengers became worried.

"Ouch!" cried Henry. "What was that?"

His driver got out to investigate.

"One of your pistons has broken, Henry" his driver answered.

"You were trying too hard coming up the hill".

"Oh dear!" said Henry mournfully. "I was doing so well".

"We'll need to get some help" said his fireman, "otherwise the passengers will never make it home on time".

Martin had spent that morning and most of the afternoon shunting and organising trucks. They moaned and grumbled, they made up silly chants and were very rude to Martin, but he just ignored them – he knew how troublesome trucks could be.

One of the signalmen brought him an urgent message:

"Henry has broken down on Gordon's hill and needs help to get his passengers home. Could you help push him please, Martin?"

"Of course!" cried Martin. He left the silly trucks and quickly made his way to Gordon's hill.

Sure enough, he found Henry stuck halfway up the steep incline, feeling very sorry for himself.

"Don't worry, Henry!" called Martin. "I'm here to help you!"

"Oh good!" replied Henry.

"Your friend's here too. He felt sorry for me and promised to help pull from the front – he's just gone to turn around".

"Oh yes!" said Martin happily. "Work's always better when we do it together".

Mark soon arrived with his own coaches and was coupled onto the front of Henry.

"Peep peep, I'm ready!" called Mark.

"Peep peep" replied Martin, "me too!" and together they heaved and pushed as hard as they could until Henry's wheels slowly began to move. They pushed and pulled with all their might until finally, they reached the top of Gordon's hill and together as a team, they brought all their passengers to the station safely and on time.

Everyone thanked the two engines:

"We would have missed our boats and flights home if it weren't for you" the passengers said gratefully.

Mark blushed and Martin swelled with pride. Even the Fat Controller was impressed and promised them both new coats of paint (of their own special colours).

That night in the sheds, all the other engines apologised to the newcomers – they felt very ashamed with themselves that they had made fun about such hard-working engines.

"We're very sorry we laughed at you" said Henry.

"You really are useful engines, and you certainly don't have wonky wheels".

"Or bent smoke boxes" said Gordon, "and you certainly showed Henry how strong you were today!".

Martin and Mark beamed.

"You see?" said Thomas.

"It doesn't matter who you are, so long as we're together".

**THE END**


End file.
